180 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



NUMBER OF TREES ON AN ACRE. 



Table showinc; the number of Trees requireJ to plant an acre 

 of ground, from one to fifty feet, apart. 



For the New England Farmer. 



SUNFLOWERS. 



Mr. Editor: — My residence is in the ivoods, 

 and my experience as a farmer is small, having 

 spent the most of my life in professional matters. 

 But even the desert presents its oasis, or green 

 spot, and watering-place, so those of small experi- 

 ence may have something to say. 



Last fall, I planted a few sunflower seeds around 

 the stum])s and about the corners of the fences. 

 Three of the largest sized heads, representatives of 

 the mass, I counted, one numbering a thousand 

 seeds, the second, one thousand two hundred and 

 fifty — the third, one thousand five hundred. The 

 same stalks yielded in addition to the above, from 

 one to four more heads. 



Now, if one seed will raise a thousand, the small- 

 est number counted in one head, the seed being one 

 foot apart in the row, and two feet apart wide, on 

 an acre, we have, as I have counted and measured, 

 two hundred and twelve bushels. 



Why might not the seed be sown and harrowed 

 in the same as oats, care being taken to have the 

 seed far enough apart. I harvested the heads with 

 a knife, and put them under cover, and fed them out 

 to my poultry, who do all the threshing, and pro- 

 nounced a bushel of sunflower seed equal to a bush- 

 el of oats. 



As this is my first attempt at the business, I 

 should like to be informed as to the best mode of 

 seeding and harvesting. The stalks would make 

 good kindling, or baker's wood, for both city and 

 country, (a.) 



RUTA-BAGAS. 



Among the stumps, very rough and soddy, I 

 raised some roots weighing eight pounds. The 

 crop was not over half the quantity, as rated by 

 good farmers, and yet I find it very profitable. 

 I keep only one cow, whose feed is half a bushel of 

 roots per day, with corn stalks and straw, at a pro- 

 fit of one dollar per week. This cow, but for the 

 roots, would probably have dried up in the fall and 

 have been a dead expense until spring. As it now 

 is, I anticipate near a pail of milk per day, -while 

 the frost and snow of 1856 remains. 



Please tell us the best seed — the time for sov.ing 

 — the quality of soil — the mode of cultivation, {b.) 



ONIONS. 

 Will the» Farmer tell us how to raise this useful 

 article ? Thus far, I have not made the business 

 profitable. Please give us some names to whom an 

 address would be satisfactory. Near Detroit, we 

 could find an ample market, (c.) 



PARSNIPS AND CARROTS. 

 One of my neighbors raised five hundred bushels 

 to the acre. He turned over a piece of sod, mel- 

 lowed it with harroM-ing, did the necessary work, 

 and received the above rich reward. The carrots 

 he fed to hogs, cows and horses, in the place of corn 

 and oats. A little information as to the modus op- 

 erandi would be thankfully received. 



CORN AND OATS. 



These grains do well among the roots, just so far 

 as the seed has a chance to the mellowed earth be- 

 low the muck. I fully agree with an old former, 

 who writes in one of your numliers, ^^plnnt corn, and 

 again I say, plant corn." This is a grain never out 

 of place, save when out of the crib, or out of the 

 stomach of man or beast. 



Ebenezer M'Donald. 



Utica, Michigan, January, 185G. 



Remarks. — (a.) Perhaps some of our readers 

 have cultivated the sunflower as a crop, and under- 

 stand the true mode; if so, they will confer a favor 

 upon us and our correspondent by replying. The 

 sunflower contains a very nice oil — would it not be 

 well to cultivate it on that account? It is said to 

 burn well in lamps, and as the plant is hardy, and 

 of vigorous growth, it seems that a suflicient product 

 might be attained, to make it an object of cultiva- 

 tion. Perhaps a difficulty would be met in find- 

 ing some expeditious method of expressing the oil : 

 but means would soon be devised to accomplish 

 that, if the crop were found profitable. 



(b.) There is among us a great variety of tur- 

 nips, but the common ruta-baga, or Swedish tur- 

 nip, taking its quality and jjroductiveness into con- 

 sideration, is perhaps as good as any. It is hardier 

 and more nutritious than any of the common sorts, 

 and in addition to its being more esteemed for the 

 table, and as food for stock throughout the turnip 

 season, is better adapted for spring feeding gener- 

 ally. It, however, requires a somewhat deeper and 

 superior class of soil and more generous manuring 

 than the common flat turnips. 



For the ruta-baga, the ground should be plowed 

 deep and finely pulverized, and the manure thor- 

 oughly incorporated with it. Harrow level, and 

 sow with seed sower, the rows two and a half or 

 three feet apart, and the plants at least one foot 

 apart in the row, and then the whole ground will 

 be covered, if the crop is a good one. Leaving 

 them too thick in the row must be carefully guard- 

 ed against, as their leaves are broad and extend 

 freely on every side, so that even as widely apart 

 as M'e have stated above, they will entirely cover 

 the ground, long before the crop has come to ma- 

 turity. There is another advantage in cultivating 



